It has been years since I had been to Schoodic Point in Acadia NP. I was looking to get away from some of the crowds so on the advice of @Ed_McGuirk I thought it was time for a revisit. This area of Acadia is not on Mount Desert Island, but is a drive farther north along the coast. I was not expecting much of a sunset so I was in no hurry to find a composition. Right around sunset some clouds rolled in along the horizon and picked up some lovely pastel color from the setting sun. I was scrambling to find a composition so I hope this works. Lesson learned; be prepared in case something happens!
What technical feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
All C&C welcome
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800, Nikon 17-35 @ 35 mm, f 18 @ 1.6 sec, ISO 200, cable release & tripod
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Ed, glad you made it over to the Schoodic , it’s not quite as dramatic as Mount Desert Island, but it has it’s own appeal. I love the delicate pink / purple color you got in the sky. Having shot a lot of sunsets at Acadia myself, I will say it often can be quite sneaky at times. Ten minutes before sunset it can be gray and overcast, and then in the space of a minute or two the magic starts to happen. Often this occurs after technical sunset. I assume you took this at Schoodic Point ?
My only suggestion for this would be to dodge the mid-tones in the rocks, I think some added luminosity there would help, but be careful to maintain the deeper shadows.
Earth Sea and Sky are always great elements…I shoot a lot of these in So Cal, yours is a very fine image, Ed. I know very well from personal experience that it can be a little anxious and stressful when your moment comes and it is a wee bit unexpected. You have some intriguing shapes in the boulder field but they seem to have an uneven exposure balance. Probably the tide line, the lower right is lighter than the lower left. I like the soft sea with your shutter speed and you have captured a peaceful moment which contributes to the quiet intimate feeling of the image. The various light/dark shades of the ocean are very strong component. My biggest issue is I need to see more of that evening sky. A better balance, at least to my liking, would be and equal amount of space given to the sky as to the foreground stones. Sometimes a lower angle of view can provide a different feel to these shots also. Thanks for sharing I hope to get to Acadia area within the next few year or two.
A simple but very effective comp. The rocks make a nice FG element to lead into the frame. The pastels in the sky draw the eye nicely to the BG. My only suggestion would be to divide the frame into thirds with a little more sky.
I saw this image last night and started to comment, but in the end decided that I was too tired to write a coherent comment!
I don’t usually read other’s comments before posting my own comment, but I did tonight to see if my thoughts were shared by others. It turns out they were. I think that I would like to see more of the sky and less of the foreground rocks in this image. I agree that the balance is off in this image since the rocks and ocean have approximately equal space in the frame, but the sky represents a much smaller area of the frame. At least for me I find the sky to hold more interest than the foreground rocks so I would bias the composition more toward the sky.
Many thanks @Ed_McGuirk, @Stephen_Stanton, @Michael_Lowe and @Brian_Schrayer for taking a moment and leaving your thoughts as they are always appreciated. I thought there might be some concerns about the sky with the majority of the clouds hugging the horizon. Here is the original before the crop. @Ed_McGuirk: You are correct; this was at Schoodic Point. I will do a rework and bring the shadows up a bit. I will be sure to make a point of heading back there the next time I visit Acadia ; hopefully this Oct.
